What’s Different About Emerging Markets, and What Does it Mean for Theory and Practice?

Abstract

Much has been written about emerging markets, especially since the term BBRIC^ was coined in by Jim O’Neill [13], then-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, in his publication Building Better Global Economic BRICs. Howev- er, very often, these perspectives have been based on anecdot- al observations followed by implications for economic policy and management actions that have not been appropriately in- vestigated. Limited attention is devoted to theoretical under- pinnings, corresponding frameworks, and empirical analyses. Additionally, the fact that there is often very little in common between Brazil, Russia, India, and China (and now South Africa) is lost. At the same time, many countries with strong similarities to each of them are correspondingly ignored.